Measuring Oil Viscosity on Engines and Compressors

Related Articles

Case Study: EMDiesel uses Cambridge Viscosity sensors on their most advanced production engines

Article: Lubricant viscosity control for gas compressors

Article: Real-time on-engine oil viscosity tracks fuel dilution, additive breakdown and oxidation

Cambridge Viscosity’s Viscometers Track and Ensure Oil Health

Good oil health and correctly lubricated machinery improves overall reliability and reduces the likelihood of unplanned downtime. This makes the equipment more efficient and positively impacts fuel economy and emissions, while reduces maintenance costs. This ultimately improves profitability. 

Conversely, when oil degradation occurs, it can lead to inefficient operation and equipment failures—and higher operating costs. 

Oil degradation can result from many things—oxidation, thermal breakdown, and contamination are just a few—and these can directly affect the oil’s viscosity.  Cambridge Viscosity’s viscosity analysis systems successfully detect, measure, and monitor these changes in viscosity, enabling operators to take corrective action to preserve the quality of the end product.

Oil analysis can be conducted both off-line (in laboratory settings) and in-line (on equipment). Oil analysis in labs is often accurate, but because samples are tested infrequently and inconsistently, it is difficult to identify serious trends prior to expensive or catastrophic failures. Real-time on-machine oil condition monitoring is a better choice for optimizing equipment performance and life-cycle costs.

Cambridge Viscosity’s single-sample viscometers are used successfully in both oil analysis labs and condition monitoring environments for their accuracy, reliability, operator-independent results, and small sample requirements. In fact, the US Army has documented Cambridge Viscosity’s effectiveness for real-time tracking of fuel dilution, water contamination, soot levels, and oxidation in on-engine monitoring of lubrication oil.